Contact: Felicity Roe 01962 846374 [email protected]/

Alison Heywood 01962 847769 [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report summarises the progress towards the implementation of the Joint Area Review (JAR) 2007 action plan, including actions to improve identification and support for young carers and commissioning developments in phase 2 of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Trust phase 2.

1.2 The report also informs the Select Committee of the forthcoming Annual Performance Assessment 2008 and the priorities contained in the new Local Area Agreement 2008/09.

2 Recommendations

2.1 Children's Services Select Committee are asked to note:

- the progress made towards the implementation of the JAR action plan;

- arrangements for the forthcoming Annual Performance Assessment 2008;

- the priorities proposed in the new Local Area Agreement 2008/09.

3 Background

3.1 The Joint Area Review (JAR), carried out from January - May 2007, was a major inspection of the services provided for vulnerable children and young people across Hampshire by the County Council and by partner organisations. The JAR assessed how we work together across health, the district councils, the voluntary sector and other organisations to ensure that children and young people:

- at risk, or requiring safeguarding are effectively cared for;

- who are looked after achieve the best possible outcomes;

- with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve the best possible outcomes.

The JAR also investigated:

- how well local services are addressing health inequalities;

- the effectiveness of services for young carers;

- the quality of the 14 -19 strategy and provision.

3.2 The JAR judged services for children and young people in Hampshire to be consistently good with some outstanding features. This gave an overall score of 3 (4: outstanding; 3: good; 2: adequate; 1: inadequate) which contributed to the Councils overall Corporate Assessment. 

3.3 The 2007 Annual Performance Assessment (APA) process examined the performance of the County Council against the five core Every Child Matters outcomes and the quality and management of services and judged our contribution to be good across each of these areas.

3.4 An action plan was subsequently developed to address the six recommendations and 16 important weaknesses identified in the JAR report, together with the four areas of development highlighted by the enhanced youth service inspection, and the 12 areas for development in the Annual Performance Assessment 2007.

3.5 The action plan, submitted to Ofsted in November 2007, contains activities, timeframes and measures of performance for each recommendation and important weakness/area for development.

3 Progress

4.1 An action plan was subsequently developed to address the six recommendations and 16 important weaknesses identified in the JAR report, together with the four areas of development highlighted by the enhanced youth service inspection, and the 12 areas for development in the Annual Performance Assessment 2007.

4.2 The action plan, submitted to Ofsted in November 2007, contains activities, timeframes and measures of performance for each recommendation and important weakness/area for development.

4.3 A summary of progress towards the six recommendations from the Joint Area Review is contained in appendix one. Appendix two summarises progress to improve the identification of, and support to, young carers. Appendix three outlines how the development of phase 2 of the CAMHS Trust addresses issues raised in the JAR.

5 Future assessment and priorities

5.1 The Children's Services Department is about to undertake the Annual Performance Assessment for 2008. This will replace the annual review of the Children and Young People's Plan. We have started to undertake a self assessment based on 29 Key Judgements to evidence our contribution to the Every Child Matters outcomes and the quality of service management. The APA process will judge the extent to which we have addressed the recommendations and important weaknesses identified in the JAR and the areas for development identified in the APA 2007.

5.2 We have agreed a new three-year Local Area Agreement (LAA) from 2008/9 and are negotiating with GOSE targets for improvement against the selected national indicators. The improvement priorities that form the basis of the new agreement will ensure that we focus, with our partners, on:

· improving children and young people's mental and emotional health, reducing obesity and reducing the under 18 conception rate;

· closing the gap between the achievements and life chances of the most vulnerable children and young people and other children and young people in Hampshire;

· improving the life chances of 16-19 year olds at risk of under achievement;

· improving services for children in our care and on the edge of care including the improvement of placement stability and choice;

· safeguarding children and ensuring that fewer children become the subject of a child protection plan for second or subsequent periods;

· ensuring high levels of educational attainment during early years and through all the key stages;

· reducing the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system.

5.3 The intention will be to collect and analyse data for the national indicators contained in the new LAA by:

· county and district boundaries;

· the vulnerable groups in the Children and Young People's Plan: children in our care; black and minority ethnic and traveller children and young people; children and young people in relative deprivation; children and young people with special educational needs and with disabilities; young parents and young carers;

· young offenders, who have been included as an additional vulnerable group for whom we are seeking to achieve better outcomes.

6 Corporate priorities

6.1 The Joint Area Review and Annual Performance Assessment judge the contribution of the Children's Services Department to the five core outcomes of Every Child Matters which link to the corporate priorities Hampshire safer and more secure for all and maximising well-being.

7 Consultation

7.1 Dissemination of the JAR report and action plan via Hantsweb and through schools. Consultation with young people through Hampshire Youth Council and Hampshire Care Council.

8 Legal implications

8.1 None

9 Financial implications

9.1 See appendix 2 (young carers' services) and appendix 3 (CAMHS).

10. Personnel implications

10.1 None

11. Impact assessment

11.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified. The Joint Area Review action plan, forthcoming Annual Performance Assessment and new Local Area Agreement will ensure a continued focus on improving outcomes for all vulnerable children and young people including minority ethnic groups.

12. Crime prevention issues

12.1 Crime prevention will be addressed specifically through the new Local Area Agreement improvement priority - reduce the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system

13. Views of the Local County Councillor

13.1 Contact with Local County Council Members will be made through consultation on the new Local Area Agreement.

14 Conclusion

14.1 Steady progress has been made towards the implementation of the Joint Area Review 2007 action plan. The Annual Performance Assessment 2008 and Local Area Agreement will ensure that Children's Services will continue, with partners, to build on existing strengths and focus areas for development to improving outcomes for all children and young people, including vulnerable groups.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

None